Well, I, with all due respect, I don't believe Lynne Cheney could be more wrong, both in tone and in fact. The truth is that this government is not functioning. It is dysfunctional, in point of fact.
Government isn’t functioning? Great. Can I have my money back? After all, government seems to be collecting taxes, and spending like a drunken sailor. How is that different than how it has been functioning for the last 76 years? Ignoring such realities, Dobbs continued his government is broken-Lynne Cheney doesn't know what she's talking about tirade:
It's failing to secure our borders, it's failing to inspect cargo, five years after a terrorist attack on this country. It's inexcusable. Homeland security is nothing more than a sham being perpetrated right now, and sometimes aided and abetted by the national media, Wolf, as you well know.
Of course, Dobbs chose not to recognize the fact that we haven’t been attacked again since 9/11, nor did Blitzer challenge him on this wonderful reality. Alas, that wasn’t the point of bringing Dobbs on, as he continued his screed:
We have a middle class, half the people in this country are making less than $30,000 a year. There's no question, some Americans are doing well, but our middle class is being hammered by runaway health care costs, by competition. Corporate America and this government have put our middle class in direct competition with the cheapest labor in the world. It is extraordinary.
Sadly, Dobbs, who used to be CNN’s host of “Moneyline”, and was considered by many – including myself – to be a credible and respected voice concerning economic news, chose to ignore some of the statistics recently released about this very matter. For instance, on August 29, the Census Bureau reported that household median incomes after adjusting for inflation rose by 1.1 percent in 2005, the first rise since 1999. Furthermore, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported just nine days before Dobbs was spewing this nonsense to Blitzer that real wages adjusted for inflation have increased 2.2 percent since September 2005.
Unfortunately, such facts did not enter the discussion. How sad. Possibly even worse, Dobbs finished with the following monologue:
Terrific interview with Lynne Cheney. It really -- it was very revealing, in terms of the tone and the tact that's being taken. You know, now we are watching power bridling at truth being spoken to power. Kudos to you, Wolf.
What follows is a full transcript of this segment. Also, for those that are interested, a blog called OC Chronicle discovered the part of Lynne Cheney’s 1981 book that is being equated to the sex-scenes in Jim Webb’s novels. That posting follows the transcript.
BLITZER: I don't know if you saw the interview we did with Lynne Cheney.
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: I sure did. Sure did.
BLITZER: She's very upset that we're calling this series "Broken Government," because she insists the government is not broken. The economy is doing great. And that for us to be calling this a broken government is distorting the actual situation.
DOBBS: Well, I, with all due respect, I don't believe Lynne Cheney could be more wrong, both in tone and in fact. The truth is that this government is not functioning. It is dysfunctional, in point of fact. It's failing to secure our borders, it's failing to inspect cargo, five years after a terrorist attack on this country. It's inexcusable. Homeland security is nothing more than a sham being perpetrated right now, and sometimes aided and abetted by the national media, Wolf, as you well know. We have a middle class, half the people in this country are making less than $30,000 a year. There's no question, some Americans are doing well, but our middle class is being hammered by runaway health care costs, by competition. Corporate America and this government have put our middle class in direct competition with the cheapest labor in the world. It is extraordinary.
BLITZER: I think her other point is that by calling it broken government, her words, these are Democratic talking points, and that we're playing into this partisan battle right now.
DOBBS: Well, again, with all due respect to Lynne Cheney, to anyone else who wants to argue about the issue of broken government, this is a broken government that's been created by both Democratic and Republican Congresses and presidents. The fact is, both parties are not working in the interests of the middle class. If she thinks this is a partisan issue, I would urge her to focus on our reporting, pointing out, in point of fact, that neither party is serving the interests of the American people right now. And our working people, most importantly, our working people, our middle class, our working men and women and their families. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
BLITZER: One thing about Lou Dobbs, he's an equal opportunity critic against the Democrats and the Republicans.
DOBBS: Well, probably a little heavier critic right now, since Republicans are in charge. If we see that change, you can bet -- one thing is, as you know, Wolf, I'm probably going to be a little more heavily critical of what the Democrats are doing.
BLITZER: Lou's book, and it's a best-seller right now, "War on the Middle Class," here it is, right here, "How the Government, Big Business and Special Interests Groups are Waging War on the American Dream and How to Fight Back." It's doing very well, as it should be.
DOBBS: Terrific interview with Lynne Cheney. It really -- it was very revealing, in terms of the tone and the tact that's being taken. You know, now we are watching power bridling at truth being spoken to power. Kudos to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Thanks very much.DOBBS: Thank you.
From OC Chronicle:
This is the extent of the "Explicit Steamy Lesbian" scene from Lynn Cheney's "Sisters":
The women who embraced in the wagon were Adam and Eve crossing a dark cathedral stage -- no, Eve and Eve, loving one another as they would not be able to once they ate of the fruit and knew themselves as they truly were. She felt curiously moved, curiously envious of them. She had never to this moment thought Eden a particularly attractive paradise, based as it was on naiveté, but she saw that the women in the cart had a passionate, loving intimacy forever closed to her. How strong it made them. What comfort it gave.
